A Sudden Chill of Fire
by Sugar Kitty
Summary: Katara meets her friend's brother,she is taken away in lust...but after time flies she finds she is not having fun,and tries to listen to all her friends' warnings,but still doesn't know what to do.ZutaraBased on a True Story
1. Life or Death

Author's note: This story is in present time, so all of the characters are able to do anything that we are today, but this story does not involve them having bending abilities, I'm sorry… THIS IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY!

Katara walked down the eighth grade hallway of her middle school with Ai and Toph, the books that would not fit in her backpack painfully digging their edges into her left arm. She shifted the books to the right side hoping to relieve some of the strain. Ai and Toph did the same with all the books they carried.

"So are we still on for the football game tonight? Katara, I hear that Abbot is exposed to be playing tonight…" Toph said in a teasing manner. Katara blushed a little and smiled while looking towards the ground, thinking about the cute freshman trombone player she had met once when Toph and she had walked around Toph's neighborhood.

"Yeah, I can't wait! It's going to be so much fun," squealed Ai, snapping Katara out of her thoughts about Abbot.

"Heck yeah it will! It's the first high school game of the year! Everyone will be there! It'll be perfect for boy hunting!" Katara said in a joking tone.

The girls laughed. They stood in the hallway for a minute longer to talk when the bell rang, signaling for the next period to start.

That afternoon the three girls went to Toph's house to get ready for the game together. They gathered into the cramped bathroom and applied the makeup and face paint to one another's faces that would be necessary to show their school spirit.

"Toph?" Ai yelled from one of the four rooms that were on the second floor.

"What Hoe?!" Toph yelled back.

"How many fish do you have?"

"Two! Why? What'd you do? Eat one?"

"You sure you only have two?" Ai's voice now sounded a little worried.

"Yes….!" Katara and Toph looked at each other with raised eyebrows of suspicion and began to head up the stairs, Toph leading the way.

Walking around the corner at the top of the stairs, they spotted Ai starring into Toph's fish tank in her john deer green room, her butt facing them.

"What?" Toph said to Ai, who hadn't moved anything but her arm, waving for them to enter the room and come over to her. When the two girls had made their way over to the tank and were looking through the clear glass, their eyes became larger. Inside the tank were tons of tiny grey and clear dots swimming around.

"Do you… happen to have a male and a female?" Katara managed to ask, breaking the silence of surprise.

"I don't know…. I just bought them because I liked their colors" Toph responded.

"Did you notice the eggs?" Ai asked.

"No."

"How could you NOT notice hundreds of fish eggs in a small tank like this?!" Ai half laughed, half snorted as she moved to look up at Toph.

" It's not like I care about the fish. I barely remember to feed them. They are only surviving because I'm too lazy to clean the algae off of the plastic plant." Toph retorted back.

"Oh." Ai turned to face the tank again.

"So what are you going to do now that you have hundreds of little fish clogging up your tank?" Katara asked.

At the moment one of the two adult fish that had originally inhabited the tank shot through the water. The startled girls watched as the blue fish did this again. After a couple of times of watching this, Ai walked away, leaving the other two in the room.

Three minutes later she returned.

"That's the dad." She said, pointing to the blue fish darting back and forth.

"How do you know?" Katara asked.

"Internet. Looked up fish babies. It said that if you have fish babies, then you might want to get them out of the tank that the parents are also in."

"Why?"

"The dad will eat them."

"Oh"

"Well ok, let's go!" Toph said, walking out of the room.

"WHAT?!" the other two girls looked after Toph with astonished faces.

"I don't need any extra fish, and the blue fish has been looking skinny anyway." And with that Toph was out of the room and going down the stairs.

Katara and Ai looked at each other and hen the tank. Ai shrugged and Katara followed her as she walked out of the room.

Toph's mother honked the car horn five minutes later and the girls raced to the car.

"So, Katara…" Ai said.

"Yes?"

"How's life?"

"Oh, you know the same ole." Katara responded rolling her eyes and giggling.

"Ai let me see that picture of your brother and his ugly self!" Toph exclaimed

Ai searched through her purse until she was able to find the picture, which was contained in her pink, leather wallet. She handed the picture of a dark headed boy with a scar in a football outfit to Toph, who playfully snatched it out of her hand. She grabbed a pen out of her own purse and began to write something on the back of the picture with much concentration and her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. With the click of her pen, she handed the picture back to Ai. Katara and Ai leaned over to read the words "ASS WIPE" written across the back of the football picture.

" And who is this a picture of again?" Katara asked curiously.

" Oh, my Brother, Zuko. He and Toph aren't always on the best of terms… Haha." Ai answered back, handing the picture to Katara.

"Haha." Katara took the picture and studied it. "He's not that bad looking, actually he's quite hot!"

"EWWW!" both girls squealed.

By this time they pulled into the high school. Toph's mother dropped them off and left, laughing at the conversation that she had just heard in the backseat. After that Zuko wasn't mentioned between the girls for the next couple of weeks, but he still stuck in Katara's memory.

Ok so I know that this chapter was like sooo short, but I kind of just remembered this and decided to put it into an ALTA story. Plz leave me comments and reviews I want all the help I can get, but plz no flames… thanks everyone…


	2. A New Light

Thanks People for looking at my story and all that, and thanks so much for those of you that reviewed. Here ya go… tell me what you think….

As the weeks went by, October's bitter cold crept over the Mississippi town they lived in. Katara enjoyed what was left of the warm weather but felt that she was more connected with the cold. She made more friends and grew to know the ones she already had even more.

Aang, a young boy in her reading and Algebra class, soon became someone she could talk to about anything. He never frowned upon her and he always gave her the best advice. Katara also became closer connected with Ai and Toph. They were always together and you would never see one without the other. They became the three closest friends in the school.

One day, in the first week of November, Ai and Katara were walking in the hallway, going to the last class of the day, as well as the only class they had together, social studies. They quickly went into the class, so to unload the books that were weighing down their backpacks.

"Katara, what are you doing this Friday?" Ai asked sitting in one of the decks that was made of a navy blue plastic seat that was connected to a false wood desk in the last row, Katara following to sit in an identical seat across from her.

"Um… let's see, NOTHING! As usual… why do u ask?"

"Well how about crashing at my place? It'll be the first time you've been out there. How about it? Will it be ok with your mom?"

Katara and Ai sat down in their seats just as the bell rang. Katara was about to answer Ai's questions when a kind old man with bushy, long gray eyebrows interrupted them.

"Ok class, open your books to page 255. We'll be studying about the pirates that ruled the Caribbean these next two weeks. So in honor of getting to my favorite historical subject, tomorrow I would like for every one of you to dress up as a pirate. That means eye patches, hooks, torn up clothing, pegged legs, everything! We'll have a fashion show during this period to see who the best pirate of the class is." Mr. Iroh said with a giant grin on his face.

Little groans came out of the class, but some yhays also popped up. Katara and Ai smiled at each other. This is great! They both loved this class.

"Ok so, now then… Mr. Ethaio, tell us… AHHHHHH ALL HANDS ON DECK! GET DOWN! GET UNDER THE DESKS!" Iroh shouted while thrusting himself on the floor right as a giant bang went through the classroom.

Katara turned to her right, where the sound had come from.

"What in the world is your problem?! That scared the shit out of me! And you know perfectly well that Mr. Iroh can't handle that type of stuff, not after what the war did to him!" She said to a boy named Oith who looked guilty with a large English book planted on the floor next to him desk.

He just smiled at her.

"If you want to deal with me, then we can take it up after school. Meet me on the left side of the school building." Oith whispered to her, leaning in so that only she could hear him.

She rolled her eyes and walked up to the front of the classroom, towards Mr. Iroh's desk, the desk that Mr. Iroh was underneath at that moment.

Mr. Iroh… it's ok….Oith is just being a jerk again. Come on out, nothing is happening… you're in 8th period social studies and we were just about to go over pirates." Katara bent down on her knees and held her hand out to help the poor man out from underneath his desk. He slowly climbed out, grunting along the way, and dusted his self off.

"Well thank you once again Miss Katara. You and Miss Ai are always such angels to me. As for you Mr. Oith, I think you know the drill by now. Up to the office once more… Now where were we?"

Katara seated herself in the seat next to Ai and looked over at her. Ai smiled at Katara and gave her a thumb up. It was always their job to tell Mr. Iroh when there was really no canon explosions going off, and when it was just a stupid classmate playing tricks on the old man again. They always took turns doing this job, for it happened at least once or twice every three weeks.

The class period went by quickly, Oith not returning from the office, but Katara looking forward to meeting him beside the school to teach him a thing or two about how to treat their elders. In the hall Ai and Katara walked to the front of the school, where they would be meeting Toph.

"So do you think you can come?" Ai asked the second they got out of the room.

"Most defiantly! I can't wait!" Katara said excitedly and hopped up and down three times. The girls laughed.

They met up with Toph outside the front of the building, waiting for her ride.

"Ok so back me up. I'm meeting Oith, and you know how he can be sometimes. Just wait on the side of the building for me, and if I need you, then I'll call." Katara filled the other two in as she walked with them to the left side of the building. She continued to walk on by herself after the other two stopped at the corner where they would not be seen.

Katara instantly saw Oith leaning against the brick building with one foot propped up. She rolled her eyes and continued forth; going over the conversation that she expected that she might have with him.

'_You're a bitch for ratting me out, yet again!' _

'_Well you shouldn't be such an ass! If you spent half of the time studying as you do thinking up ways to torment Mr. Iroh, then you wouldn't be in this school again for the third time.' _

'_You slut!'_

And so the conversation would lead on until finally they would be rolling around on the ground throwing punches and have to be broken up by Toph and Ai.

Katara walked right up to Oith and paused right in front of him. He didn't move, but continued to stare ahead, smacking a piece of baby blue gum that lolled around in his mouth.

"Well?" Katara urged on after waiting for a total of two minutes.

Oith slowly moved his head around to face her. He stared at her face for a few seconds, a lay of emotions going over his face. Suddenly a toothy smile spread across his face.

Katara began to unconsciously back up, but Oith was quicker.

He grabbed her arm and whipped her around, pinning her to the brick wall, knocking the breath out of her in the process. He threw his body against hers and forcefully planted his large lips onto her soft, tan ones. He let go of her arms, but there was still no way for her to escape because of the weight his body crushing her against the wall. His hands slowly started to move down her body.

He reached up her shirt and moved her bra over his hands as he groped her breasts, grabbing them hard enough to hurt Katara. She couldn't get any air into her lungs to yell or scream, not even to breath. His hands began to reach down her torso. He quickly unbuttoned his pants. He began to reach for her pants buttons when suddenly Katara realized that if she didn't react no, then she would never get the chance to again.

Breathing in as deeply as she was able to, she released. A high pitched yell came from within her chest and spread across the empty forest that was next to the side of the school they were on.

Toph and Ai were there quicker than Katara thought possible. Oith was thrown off of her and she was dragged to the front of the school building by both arms. She could hear shouting around her for people to move out of the way and others asking as to what had happened. Then all was silent.

Katara awoke to the outline of three heads looking down over her. She tried to sit up but was forced back down.

"Wha…?"

"Katara, take it easy. You're in Mr. Iroh's room. Are you ok? Did he hurt you?"

Katara blinked a few times to get her vision back. She could make out the people's faces now. Ai's white face with large blue eyes looked down at Katara with her layered, short, blonde hair framing her face. Toph's tan, thin face and deep green eyes stared at her also; her long blonde, braided hair lay over her shoulder. The last face turned out to be Aang. His bald head was decorated with a single thick blue arrow that he had gotten tattooed on when he was a child and lived in his native tribe that had long since gone missing. His blue eyes were wide with worry and he was paler than he usual.

Katara smiled and slowly sat up, shaking the hands that tried to force her back down off.

"Guys, I'm fine. You act like I'm a child. Yes he almost had me, but that was a learning experience. Will never happen again, because next time, I'll whoop his ass before he even gets to think about doing that to me."

"You're sure you're ok?" Aang asked, worry still plastered across his face.

"Yes. I'm not some wimp of a girl. I can handle myself."

"Do you want us to call your parents?" Ai asked.

"NO! I mean… if this got to them, then I would probably be pulled from the school and I don't want that. So let's keep this our secret. Please?"

"Well alright. If you insist. But we are going to the principle. We won't tell what happened, but we will tell her that Oith threatened you. He'll get kicked out, and you won't have to worry about him ever again. I'll make sure of it." Aang said the last part under his breath, barely heard by Katara, but heard nevertheless.

Katara got up, with Aang's help and together the four of them walked to the front of the school, like they would any ole day to wait for their mothers. Katara told them not to worry, to forget the whole ordeal and just be normal.

So that's what they did.

Ai's mother picked her up first. She leaned out the window to tell Katara and Toph that she would three way them after her dance lesson at 7:00 pm. Then Toph got into her car telling Katara bye for now.

"Guess who…" he said in a deep voice so as to cover up his own.

Katara and Aang faced each other. She could tell that the whole thing that had just happened still worried Aang, but she tried to act as normal as possible. Soon they got into one of their fierce games of Rock, air, water, fire, a game they had made up quite resembling that of rock, paper, scissors. The game went…

Rock beats air

Air beats fire

Fire beats rock

Water beats fire

Whoever gets all the elements and defeats the other player, wins…

The game went by and Katara was winning with an extra element over Aang. A honk of a car signaled the game's end and Katara gave Aang hug before getting into her car and heading home, putting her memories of Oith and his sexual assault in the back of her memory to be locked away forever.

plz leave me a review or comment or whatever. And I would love to know what I could fix in the story, but not in flame form plz.

So who thinks that Aang likes Katara? Tell me in the review… thanks…

O and for those wondering… the football game in the story was won by Katara's school…

Sugar Kitty


	3. Mystery Guest

Ok Hey people! Plz leave Reviews

Friday rolled around quickly for Katara and Ai. The girls had gone to Principle Lei the next morning before classes started where they told her the story that Oith had threatened Katara and that she felt unsafe, a story that was only partly true. Oith was looked after very closely by the teachers until two days later, when he was caught by Mr. Iroh, assaulting a seventh grade girl. He was expelled.

But nevertheless, the memory of Oith's assault disappeared just as quickly as the week went by and soon not one of the four people who had anything to do with the situation remembered it. The teachers loaded their students down with homework, just like usual and they were so occupied in their studies that Katara and Ai didn't realize that Friday was at their feet until they looked on their cell phones Thursday night.

While talking on the phone Thursday night, Katara and Ai chatted away about what they would do at Ai's house, the clothing that would be necessary and riding four wheelers through the woods.

"Ohh can I drive?! Pleaseee!!" Katara begged into the phone.

"Have you ever driven a four wheeler before?" Ai responded.

"Well no, but that's why you're going to teach me!" Katara perked up, convinced that she would some way or another get to drive a four wheeler.

"I don't know… we'll have to see what my dad says… ok, but here's the deal…"

"Yes?"

"So we're going to go out some ways from my house and go into the woods, where there is going to be a pasture. A house is located there, but it's nothing fancy, just a place for my dad and his friends to stay so they are able to easily get up in the morning and hunt. But there is going to be a bonfire party out there tomorrow night and that's what we're going to, so dress warm. My dad and brother are going to be at the house for most of the time, packing so they will be able to go hunting in the morning. We shouldn't really see them at all."

"Alright, well that's sounds cool… who is all going to the bonfire? Anyone I might know?"

"Oh, no, just a bunch of my parent's friend. We will probably be the youngest people there. Well except for this cute little girl. She's like four and her name is Elli. She is so adorable and loves to play!"

"AWWWW! I love little kids!"

The girls talked for an hour more about the subject of what they would be doing at Ai's house. The whole time Katara had a deep regretful feeling in the pit of her stomach about not getting to meet the hot guy from the picture, but she never said this aloud.

Friday, Katara brought her blue bag that had a scene of the ocean to school and left it in her last period class, Insights, a class for the intellectual students that did not get challenged enough in their other classes.

Ai, Katara, and Toph had a usual day of lab experiences gone wrong, girls fighting in the hallway over a guy, and flirting with guys in their classes. While this kept them excited and alert, they still couldn't wait for the day to end. Ai and Katara could not wait to get to the bonfire that night, and Toph had a date with her boyfriend, Jordy, whom she had been going out with for ten months. Each girl watched and waited as the eight hours of the school day ticked by minute by minute, second by second, never seeming to end.

3:05 P.M. finally arrived as signaled by the week's final bell that rang through the school to the awaiting students' ears. Katara and Ai skipped up the stairs that separated the seventh and eighth grade halls ways, as well as led to the front of the school, and skipped down the hall in linked arms while singing "We're off the see the wizard!" Toph was already out there with Jordy, discussing their date plans. Katara and Ai stood close by behind a column to spy on their conversation, which they knew Toph wouldn't mind them doing.

"Come on now?! Do I have to?" Jordy whined to Toph.

"Yes." Toph's voice was stern and unyielding.

"I don't want to though."

"I've got it all; you wouldn't have to do a thing."

"Except humiliate myself!"

Ai and Katara guessed that Toph did her classic tearing up sad face that she did only towards Jordy and her parents whenever she wanted something they were refusing to do because they heard Jordy release a heavy sigh.

"Fine, but it's only because I love you and can't stand when you do that. If anyone asks, it was NOT my idea!"

Toph squealed with delight.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're going to make the best bunny in the world!"

At this moment Katara and Ai chose to include themselves in the conversation. They stepped out from behind the column with large grins across their faces. Jordy saw them instantly and shook his head.

"No! Don't you dare tell them what you are making me go through Toph!" Jordy said this as he grabbed Toph by the hand and dragged her over to lean against his chest, away from the other two.

"Bunny?" Katara asked the smile still on her face.

"Kio is having a costume party in honor of Costume Day, and I asked Jordy to go. I'm dressing up as a female magician; he's going to be my bunny from the hat!" Toph explained with glee in her voice.

Ai and Katara let the laughter they were trying to conceal slip and eventually Jordy and Toph were laughing along with them.

Catching her breath Katara told Toph and Jordy to have a good time, and she and Ai walked around to find people to talk to. Ai found a person whom Katara was not too fond of, so she went to find Aang.

Katara was alerted that her ride was here when she suddenly heard a shriek bellow from her pocket. She silenced the phone and quickly gathered her things and walked to the car. The two girls waved goodbye to Aang and Toph and were on their way.

Katara sat next to Ai in the back seat and listened as Ai's mother joked with them about her age and how back in the old days there would not be this and that while she looked out the window at the view passing by. The trees were already bare and the trees that did have leaves were yellow and red in color. She loved the coloring and got lost in her thoughts for a minute until Ai hit her with a book across the shoulder.

"Ouch." Katara said while turning to face away from the window and look daggers at Ai for hitting her.

"Katara… I have to tell you something." Ai said with a very serious look on her face.

"Um… Ok?"

"Do you have to FORT!?" Ai said the last word in a very deep British accent. It took Katara a second to understand, but when she did she shook her head and laughed.

They arrived at a heavenly one story brick house, located off of a gravel road far from the city. The house sat in the middle of a big pasture with small juvenile trees lining the gravel driveway. There was a creek down a slope from the house and cows were seen graving on a hay bell in the distance. A pond sat just off of the driveway and had a small dock that looped out over the dark water, perfect for swimming in the summering months. The land was beautiful and Katara had to hold herself back from jumping out of the car right then and there to go exploring.

Ai's mother unlocked the door and let it fall open, stepping back for the girls to enter a small entrance hall that separated from the living room by two half walls and decorative wooden bars. As the door opened two tabby cats ran out and to a food bowl set beside a kitty litter box that sat against the wall of the garage. A very frisky collie puppy greeted Katara as she was taking off her shoes in the hall. The puppy, whose name she found out was Sumi, jumped up into Katara's lap as she sat down on Ai's tie dyed bed brimmed over with pillows of all shapes, sizes and colors. Katara petted the sweet puppy and let her lick her face.

"Eww! What are you doing!?" Ai exclaimed in a disgusted tone , seeing what Sumi was doing to Katara's face.

"What? Is there something wrong?" Katara said lifting her face and wiping the dog slim from her face with her sleeve.

"That is so gross. Why do you let her lick your face!? You don't know where her tongue has been!"

"Well first of all, a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's mouth. Plus I love the smell of puppy breath!" Katara smiled and set the puppy on the ground to stand up.

"So can we go explore now!? Please!?" Katara said heading out the door of Ai's room and into a hallway leading into a second living room.

"Wait! Can we check my email real quick? I'm expecting an email from my cousin regarding tonight." Ai said while running past Katara and heading to the computer that stared in the direction of the door and sat on the other side of one of the walls that overlooked the first living room to turn it on.

"Sure why not… "Katara responded sitting down in the seat on the side of the computer next to where Ai had plopped herself down.

The computer took a few minutes to upload, at which the girls wasted by taking pictures of themselves with Ai's mother's camera and eating sour patch kids that they had found on the computer table. When they finally got the computer running and email up it took only a second to respond to all Ai's mail, with one message from her cousin telling them that she would not be able to make the festivities of the night, but the rest of the emails were mostly from Katara and Toph. They logged onto Msn to see who was just playing around on the computer like they were. They found that the guy Ai was crushing on had logged on the minute after they had, and they instantly started to chat with him. The conversation with the boy continued on for two hours, the girls not realizing that night had come over the house and the time was drawing closer for the party.

With the turn of the door knob, the girls' attention was directed towards the door where a young man walked through the threshold.

Hey ok, so please review… I want to hear from as many people as possibly. O and I don't think that I will be updating until I get at least 5 reviews ) … thank you…

Sugar Kitty


	4. Bleak Darkness

Katara and Ai both turned towards the door, looking between the wood posts that separated the entrance to the room and the door.

"Mom! Do I have ANY clean underwear for tonight?! Don't forget, dad and I are staying at the camp in the camper tonight to go deer hunting tomorrow!"

He walked right past them, and into the kitchen, not even noticing the two girls staring after him with wide eyes.

'_That must be the charmer from the picture, Zuko…. HOT!'_ Katara thought to herself.

"Yeahhhh… that's my brother… so sorry about that, but anywayssss…" Ai tried to cover up for her brother's embarrassment, turning back to the computer to continue with the conversation she had been distracted from.

"Ah I see… well it's all cool, so what's your BOOOO saying?!" Katara said, trying to shake the thoughts of her friend's hot brother out of her head.

Katara glanced every now and then in the direction that Zuko had gone, unnoticeable to Ai who wrapped herself into flirting with the guy from school. As Katara glanced up for the third time, Zuko came out of one of the rooms and into the hall holding a clean pair of underwear up to examine it. He held the briefs up to his face and took a big whiff of them.

"MOM! Are you sure these are clean??"

"YES ZUKO, GOSH DAMNIT, JUST WEAR THEM!"

"Fine!"

With that, Zuko walked into the room across the hallway from the one he came out of, still not aware that he was being slightly watched. Katara turned back to the computer with a smile on her face, trying to hold back a giggle that had formed in her chest and read the conversation Ai was having online.

"Hey, where did my sour patch kids go?!"

Ai and Katara screamed at the deep voice directly at their ear levels came from behind them. Neither of them had noticed Zuko sneak into the room, apparently looking for the candy kids that the girls had found and had been munching on for the past two hours.

"Sorry Zuko, we ate them," Ai said to her brother, turning her swivel chair around to face him with a large innocent smile plastered across her face.

"Ugh! Fine!" Zuko stormed out of the room muttering things under his breath about having no respect in the house, Katara and Ai laughing at the scene.

"Ok, I'm getting off, what do you want to do?" Ai said as she spun around to face the computer again and logged off of the instant messenger as well as shut off the computer.

"Well… when do we head out to the bonfire?" Katara asked after she looked out the window and realized that it was much too late to go exploring in the fields.

"Actually it should be a few minutes. Why don't we get our jackets out of my room and put on our shoes so we'll be ready when we have to go… I think my brother is going to have to drive us there. "

Katara followed Ai into Ai's room which was decorated with light pink walls and fake flowers vines that were stapled to the top of the walls. They gathered their things to keep warm in the frigid night air.

"Hey Ai. Who's your friend?" Zuko stood in the doorway, watching the girls run around the room, occasionally bumping into one another, trying to get their stuff together and looking in the mirror that leaned against the southernmost wall of the room to see how they looked for the bonfire. He had a large grin across his face when they noticed him.

"This is Katara. Katara that is Zuko." Ai pointed at each of them as their names came out of her mouth and continued to walk around the room, trying to decide what to wear.

"Hi." Katara said as she bent down to put her shoe on and tie it.

"Hi."Zuko's voice sounded to be amused by something.

Katara looked up from her crouched position to see that Zuko was staring at her.

"Can I help you?" she asked with a little bit of disgust in her words, looking down to see if she was showing any cleavage and that he might be what he was staring at.

"Nope." He composed himself.

"Hey Ai, be in the truck in two minutes or I'm leaving you two chicks." With that, Zuko walked out of the room into the one that was next to Ai's, and a minute later he passed by the room, glancing at Katara who was bending over and didn't, and walked out to his car.

"Ready?" Ai asked a few seconds later.

"Yep! Let's go!" Katara stood up with a hop and bounced out of the room wearing her baby blue jacket and hot blue gloves.

They both climbed into the truck, Ai first, so that Katara wouldn't have to sit by Zuko. With a slam of the silver truck's door, they pulled out of the driveway, the 15 year old Zuko behind the wheel. He turned up the music, letting it blare out of the speakers, singing along with it and dancing so that the car swayed, making Katara tense.

The truck headed up the driveway, towards the deserted road. Turning left onto the road, they took another sudden, unexpected left, where they ended up on a dirt road heading into a pasture. Katara watched out the window, and as they drove, she could clearly make out the dirt path in the in the ground. They went over puddles, stopped to open a few gates, as well as drive up two steep hills that if not gone up the right way, would lead to nothing but terror for those in the car going up them.

Soon she saw two single lights coming from the bleak darkness. They parked on the side of a shabby building. Katara and Ai jumped out of the car and headed to the small fire located between two campers that were parked in a right angle with a large slab of concrete in the middle to form a patio for the campers.

While warming up by the fire, Katara looked around. She peered behind her to where Zuko had parked the truck. Behind the silver vehicle was a one story building. The outside wooden walls looked to be stripping off, blue wallpaper that was underneath the ply board, was coming through, very clearly seen. But besides that and the porch that was falling through, the place had an interesting air to it and Katara wanted yearned to go inside.

"Hi!" a small voice came up to Katara.

Katara's concentration on the building was broken when she heard this small hi. She looked down to see where it had come from.

"Hiiiiii…." She kneeled down to become of equal height with a little girl that looked to be 4.

'_This must be Elli… she's so cute!'_

"Want to play?" Elli asked Katara.

"Sure I'll play with you… go get Ai and we'll all play together ok?" Katara asked the girl.

"OK!" and with that the small child ran off to find Ai.

Elli and Ai returned soon and Elli told them what she wanted to play. The two older girls laughed at the childish game, but agreed that it would be fun anyway. They all ran off in different directions.

Ai hid behind a red four-wheeler while Katara hid behind a large green truck and Elli hid behind her mother sitting by the fire in a camping chair.

They all saw their prey. Suddenly Elli jumped out, and that was the cue for the older girls.

They ran towards Zuko who still hadn't noticed anything was happening until Elli got to him and kicked his leg with all the force her body would allow.

"Haha, beat up Zukooo, Beat up Zukoo!!" She sang as they all playfully punched and kicked him.

He fell to the ground, all the girls falling with him, and they all laughed.

"Elli, bed time." Elli's mother walked over to the girls and picked Elli up in her arms.

"Bye Elli!" Ai and Katara waved night to her and watched as her family backed out of the campsite and drove away, the tail lights fading away in the blackness of the night.

Zuko had walked behind one of the campers by that time.

'This night is going to be SO much fun!' Katara thought to herself with a smile, a smile that didn't go unnoticed to Zuko who had come around from the camper's back and was staring at her from the distance.

Author's note: It has come to my attention that I misnamed Zuko's sister. I'm really sorry. Before I started writing I had the name Ai stuck in my head as one of the main characters and it slipped my mind that Azula was Zuko's sister. I really am sorry.

But thank you all so much for all of your reviews, and please, everyone leave my reviews, I love them… Thanks

Sugar Kitty


	5. Slumberless Night

"Katara, do you want anything to eat?" Ai's mother asked Katara who was standing by a card table that was covered with trays of food.

"No ma'am, I'm not hungry. I'll just eat later though, but thanks."

"Well alright sweetie pie, you get whatever you like." The caring aged mother walked away to warm herself by the fire.

"Hey Katara, I'm cold, let's go into my camper and watch what's on TV!" Ai called over her shoulder from a fold out camping chair placed in the middle of the semicircle around the fire that she had promptly placed herself in after Elli had left.

Zuko had gone back to the house shortly thereafter. As he claimed it, he had forgotten to pack his underwear. It had been about an hour after Elli left that the two older girls were able to control their hyperactive bodies and settle down.

"Sure. It is quite chilly out here." Katara answered as she turned on her heels and started stepping toward the camper that was Ai's family's. She waited on Ai and they walked the small distance to the camper.

Katara was up the three steps first. She opened the first door, and attempted to open the second one, a screen door that was used to keep the bugs out, but it wouldn't budge. She pulled on the handle as well as pushed, almost falling off in the process, but the dang door just wouldn't open for her. Ai stood there snickering under her breath at the funny sight of Katara pulling and making frustrated grunting sounds to herself. Finally Katara gave in and turned to look down the step at Ai.

"A little help would be much loved…" Katara's voice was full of irritation.

Ai smiled an apologetic smile at her. She grabbed Katara's arms and scooted her over a little, making sure that she didn't fall off the step, but that she herself also had enough room to get up there and work her magic on the door. When she was in a position that she could work with, she grasped the handle and with a quick clockwise motion and a push, the door was wide open.

"What the Hell?!" Katara said with her mouth wide open.

"We made our handle like this so that no animals will try to push the door open in the middle of the night. It's safer for us and the animals." Ai explained to Katara before she had a chance to get angry with her.

They both bounded into the warm camper which was furnished with a plaid couch for three, two lounge chairs, a king sized bed, and a widescreen television. Ai closed the door behind her. Katara plopped herself on the couch that was located next to the door and turned on the television with the remote that she snatched up from between the cushions before she sat down.

Click _"no"_

Click _"no"_

Click _"no"_

Click "OOOOHHHHH Boy Meets World! Let's watch this!" Ai shouted, almost blowing Katara's ears out and scaring her to death.

"Alright" Katara set down the remote and curled into a ball with Ai right beside her doing the same.

Katara reached over Ai and they both grabbed a camouflage blanket that was there. The two got all comfortable, laid their heads down, and watched their show. Before long they were nice, warm, and happy, relived that they were not outside, for not even a fire would be able to get them this warm. That was until the door flew open and all the cold air came rushing in, trying to suck up the warmth and make it its own.

"Zuko! Close the door!" Ai yelled popping up from her dazed, light sleep.

"No shit! It's freezing out there!"Zuko closed the door and let the warmth consume them once more.

He looked over at Katara, who had barely noticed the door incident, was almost half asleep. He smiled a sweet caring smile and as quietly as he could manage, stepped over their legs to get into the bedroom area, closing the door silently behind him.

Zuko stood at the door he had just closed for a second, trying to remember why he had come in there when he heard the girls stirring outside, sure that he had waken them up when he had closed the door.

"What's going on?" Katara asked, still a little dazed.

"I don't know… Leave me alone, go back to sleep."Ai was irritated that her sleep had been bothered by her brother, and now her friend was waking up and would want to probably get up and do something.

Katara nodded and curled back up into her human ball.

Soon both girls were asleep. Zuko opened the door to the room and looked over at them.

'_How long was I in there?!' _Zuko wondered to himself with amazement.

He scooted himself over to them, kneeling over next to Katara.

'_She is so beautiful!_' he thought to himself with a smile. He shook his head suddenly, as though trying to get rid of these thoughts. _'How can I think this, she's, what, like 12, my sister's age! And I'm almost 16 in two months! I need to stop this now!'_ He stood up and opened both the doors leading out of the camper, again letting in the frigid air that went unnoticed to the sleeping girls.

Ten minutes passed as the girls slept on.

"Ok Girls! Wakey Wakey Lemon Shakies!! Unless two little ladies don't want to go on a midnight four wheeler ride….!" Ai' father exclaimed as the camper doors were thrown wide open and the blanket was snatched off of the slumbering girls.

After moaning and groaning for a few seconds, the girls realized what Ai's father had said, and bounded out of the camper, pushing Ai's laughing dad out of the way. The two ran over to the two red and green four wheelers that had been there earlier, the red one being Ai's father's and the green one, Mr. Lang's, one of the family's friends who often came to hunt. Katara and Ai jumped onto her father's wheeler and situated themselves on the seat so that three people would be able to ride without problem.

Katara decided that she would ride on the metal railing that hung out over the wheels and were designed to fasten gear down so it wouldn't fall off, for this was how she used to ride on her four wheeler at home when she was younger and her dad would drive her brother, Sokka, and her around, while Ai would sit behind her dad on the black cushioned seat.

"Hey dad, I'm riding with you." Zuko shouted to his father as he came out of the camper that, like the green four wheeler, belonged to Mr. Lang, putting his black gloves and gray hat on as he did.

"NO! Katara and I are riding with dad, it's Katara's first time and we don't want to scare her. You know perfectly well how Mr. Lang likes to drive… Wild and Crazy….So we get dad, you get Lang." Ai snapped her head around to face Zuko and instantly stared arguing with him.

"No, dad and I have to do something that involves tomorrow morning's hunting trip…ya'll can ride on while we do that for a little while…"

"He's right Ai." Ai's Father yelled from beside the fire.

"Ok Fine! Katara you don't mind if we ride with Mr. Lang, do you?"Ai's mood changed to worry that Katara could only imagine was for their safety. Could Mr. Lang possibly drive any worse than Zuko had coming down there?

"No, it's perfectly fine with me… plus I bet he's a fun ride!" Katara said, not wanting to hurt Mr. Lang's feelings, as she jumped down from the four-wheeler she was on and ran over to the other one to get in the same position that she was on the four-wheeler before.

"Hey Mom, are you and Mrs. Lang going to come riding tonight?" Ai shouted over to the campfire.

"No honey, I'm not feeling too well and Mrs. Lang says she'll go another night. We're old and will just spoil your fun. You two be careful now and have fun!" A shout responded back to her.

"Ok! O my goodness," she said walking over to Katara who sat on the four wheeler, "One time we were on a midnight drive and we had about 5 four wheelers, #1. Had dad and I, #2. Had Mr. Lang and Mrs. Lang, #3. Had Joe and his Bride-to-be, and Joe is the most awesome, hilarious guy ever, then #4. Had Zuko and Mom, and last was #5. This had Toph, Elli, and Elli's mom, Kara. So anyway, we were riding at a slow pace for some reason and Joe picks up the longest fox tail weed ever. So while he's still driving he 

reaches the weed up in front of him and lightly taps Mrs. Lang on the shoulder and in her hair, and she absolutely starts flipping out! She was screaming "Bug! Bat! They're in my hair!!" It was so funny; we had to stop all the wheelers!" Both girls died out laughing, and the older women by the fire, having heard the story, started laughing also.

"Alrighty girls, let's get on and go!! Zuko, you and your dad are going to be behind us so you can close the gates after we go though them. I'll be turning around so that my headlights will shine on you and allow you to see. Ready Everyone?" Mr. Lang happily bellowed.

"Good!!" Mr. Lang announced, walking out of the camper Zuko had come out of.

Ai got onto the four-wheeler that Katara was already on, and they both waited for Mr. Lang to shuffle over and start the engine. Mr. Lang waddled over to his wheeler and looked at Katara with a smile.

"Why hello pretty ladies! I'm Mr. Lang and I'll be your server tonight, tell me if there is anything that I can do for you… now let's keep all hands and feet inside the four-wheeler limits as much as possible, and let's try not to fall off, Ai you remember last time… Racers, are we ready to start our engines?!" and with a laugh from the girls as confirmation, he got onto the four-wheeler.

Mr. Lang turned around to look at Katara again. "Well are you sure you can hang on there?! You're practically hanging off the side!"

Katara smiled "Yes sir, this is the way I'm used to riding, I can keep myself up. Thank you though."

"Alrighty then!"

"Hey, Katara, be sure not to scratch any part of that pretty face of yours, ok?" Zuko yelled over the start of the engine before he could stop himself, and Katara, not expecting this, turned around and looked at him with a bit of confusion. He only smiled at her and winked. She turned around again, and gave Ai and shrug when she saw that she was looking at her with the same confusion. When she was sure that Ai had turned around and that she wasn't in her view anymore, she gave herself a small smile, giggled to herself a little, and blushed.

"Ready Everyone?" Mr. Lang shouted. When he was answered by a roar of an engine behind him, he roared his engine, as they do at a car race.

"Off we go!!" Mr. Lang announced, hitting the gas and letting the wheels take control of the machine, skidding mud up behind them.

"YYYEEEEEEEEEEHHHAAWWW!!"

And Katara's wheeler was off, leaving Zuko's comment in the dust.

Thanks for those who commented. Hope ya'll Liked This. Tell me what you think…

Sugar Kitty


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